


Where the Sun Don't Shine

by MythicalCatie



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - Prison, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Correctional Officer!Rhett, Don't copy to another site, Inmate!Link, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:27:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21801214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicalCatie/pseuds/MythicalCatie
Summary: Love is a fickle thing. But for correctional officer Rhett McLaughlin, whose soulmate just so happens to be a prisoner in his charge, it's a whole lot messier than he ever dreamed.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35
Collections: Mythical Secret Santa 2019





	Where the Sun Don't Shine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sohox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohox/gifts).



> Thank you to afangirlsplaylist and mythicaliz for being such lovely betas!

**September 4th, 1984; Raleigh, North Carolina**  


* * *

  
CO McLaughlin sighed and ran a hand through his wavy blond hair as inmate Giuntoli exited the cataloging room. He waited for him to disappear from view before calling for the next newcomer to enter.

While his coworker worked on saving Giuntoli’s photo, the next inmate entered.

"Name?" Rhett asked in complete disinterest, at first not looking up. Instead, his eyes were trained on his clipboard.

A soft voice, entirely unlike that of the previous man, filled the room with answer. "Link Neal," it said, carrying and singing into Rhett's ears. 

"I don't see a Link Neal on this list…" he said, growing slightly annoyed already as his eyes scanned the piece of paper attached to his clipboard. What could he say? He was grumpy, tired, and bored of looking at naked men that he, for the most part, didn't find the least bit attractive. The fact that this guy decided that he was important enough to waste Rhett's time wasn't helping.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man apologized, a North Carolina twang apparent in his tone. “My name’s Charles. Not quite used to using the formal first name just yet,” he explained, scratching the back of his head.

“That’s no problem,” Rhett allowed, softening a bit, looking up only to give Link/Charles a tight-lipped smile. “Prison’s a learning curve. People usually use their last names around here, though…” Rhett’s voice trailed off as he got a good look at the man. “So ‘Neal’ will do just fine,” he finished gently. 

It was hard not to admit that Charles Neal was a beautiful thing to look at. Salt and pepper hair sat perfectly styled atop his head, and his tortoiseshell glasses were perched high on his nose, framing lovely deep blue eyes and revealing a crow's foot or two. He was dressed in the standard outfit for incoming inmates, an orange jumpsuit with  _ North Carolina D.O.C.  _ emblazoned on the back of the shirt and down the side of the right pant leg. Somehow, despite the garishness of the outfit as a whole and the fact that this particular shade of orange (if any) wasn't his color, Charles "Link" Neal pulled it off, and he took Rhett’s breath away. It was just his luck that this gorgeous North Carolinian man, who was his just type might he add, was a prisoner in his charge instead of a free bird on the street. 

“Neal,” Link repeated as if it was a foreign name he had never heard a day in his life before this moment. “Got it.”

Before Rhett could get another word out, his coworker spoke, using deliberate words to say exactly what he wanted as coldly and as quickly as he could. He’d talk to Rhett about his little crush later, but for now, they needed to get through these incomings. “Neal, strip.” 

“Oh, um… I already did strip search with-”

“It’s not  _ for _ that, inmate,” the officer, CO Inman, explained, his undertone low and his overtone icy. “It’s for cataloging, and that’s the last time I’m going to explain why we’re doing something. Next time I tell you to do something, you say yes, sir, and you fucking do it, are we clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Link responded, and he was already undressing as the words tumbled from his mouth. 

“It’s to track all of your scars, tattoos… Identifying marks in case of escape,” Rhett informed Link, who was clearly trying not to look upset. It was obvious to Rhett that Link wasn’t used to being barked at. He knew that he would have to get used to it and soon, though. 

Link nodded as his final piece of clothing, a white long-sleeved undershirt, hit the floor. 

Goosebumps raised on the new inmate’s skin as it was exposed to the cold of the room. Rhett tried not to gawk at his tanned, muscular biceps and strong shoulders.

It didn’t take long for Rhett to spot it. After all, the man had no scars and nothing else so much as blemishing his skin. It would be impossible to miss, especially because it sat so proudly on the inside of his forearm. Rhett couldn’t take his eyes off of it. 

The forty-something year old blond had stared at the same thing for all of his life, tracing it with growing fingers and wondering who would have the same on their skin. Dreaming about what he would look like, how he would sound, if he would have a pretty smile. 

But here he was, an inmate at North Carolina State Prison, and Rhett felt sick to his stomach. 

Rhett’s eyes were trained on the colorful tattoo, one of a mythical beast, as Rhett had named it. A fire breathing rooster with the wings and tail of a dragon. The same exact tattoo that Rhett had had on his own forearm since the day he was brought onto this Earth. And he knew that that could only mean one thing. He had just found his soulmate. 

He pried his eyes away from the tattoo site long enough to take Neal’s photograph for his ID card after he got dressed, but as soon as he had  _ thanked them  _ (that was a first) and left the room, Rhett announced, “It think it’s time to take a break.”

Inman quirked an eyebrow at the statement, confused. “Rhett, man. We’ve only done two of five inmates. You don’t need a break, bro. You can do it.”

But Rhett was as white as a sheet, and that was something that Inman, always invested in doing his job and doing it right, failed to notice.

"Just… Just five minutes. Please," he practically begged.

"Five minutes," Inman conceded after taking a good look at Rhett. He couldn't help but feel bad for the guy, whatever his problem was, and it didn't help the tough guard image if one of them looked like they had seen a ghost. "Go splash some cold water on your face and come back." 

“Thanks,” Rhett breathed, rising from his chair and not giving it a second thought before exiting the room in a rush. 

His legs felt like jello beneath him as he raced to the nearest employee bathroom. He knew they might give out at any moment, that he needed to get there as quickly as he possibly could. 

His long strides were helpful in carrying him to the restroom, getting him there quicker than he had expected at his top speed. 

Throwing the door open, Rhett stumbled into the nearest stall just in time for him to spew vomit into the toilet. He couldn’t believe it. His soulmate, a  _ prisoner _ . The person he’d been waiting his whole life for had committed a crime serious enough to land him  _ here _ . 

Retching, he guided himself to his knees so here was less of a chance that he would ruin the stall as he emptied the contents of his stomach inside of it. 

When he was finally done, Rhett wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and leaned against one of the walls of the stall, sliding down to sit on the floor. 

He took a moment to allow the event that had just unfolded before him to sink in, breaking it down for himself as if he didn’t already know what it all meant. Here he was, a correctional officer at a facility. In walks a man who turns out to be his soulmate. The soulmate whom he had been waiting for for more than four decades, the soulmate that was supposed to attend a goddamn celebration that his family was bound to throw just like they did for Cole (albeit twenty years earlier). And this soulmate, this person he’s supposed to get to know and love forever and ever until the end of his days, isn’t even so much as another guard, but a  _ prisoner _ ? A prisoner whom he couldn’t love properly or even love at all because of the laws against fraternization? What the hell had Rhett done to deserve  **that** karma? Had there been some sort of mistake, even, he wondered? Was Link Neal’s soulmate supposed to be another prisoner all along instead of him?

Thinking about it made Rhett sick to his stomach again, and before he knew it, his head was it the toilet once more. He knew this was going to be a  **long** day. 


End file.
